Samsung has clawed its way to become one of the industry's leading phone manufactures, if not arguably the industry leader.
While the company's newly unveiled Galaxy S4 will soon go to battle against the iPhone 5 (and whatever Apple decides to call their next gen iNcarnation) and the HTC One for title of elite super phone of the moment, Samsung has still made room for the non-elite mobile customer.
To that end, Samsung has announced the Samsung Galaxy Win, which appears to be a slightly wimpier Galaxy S3 for the midrange consumer.
The Win is a 4.7-inch Jelly Bean-powered handset that will sport a 1.2 Ghz quad-core processor and 5-megaxpixel camera. In a lot of ways, the Win is very similar to--but just slightly punier than--the current Galaxy 3 and its 4.8-inch display, 1.4 Ghz quad-core processor, and 8-megapixel camera. Spec-wise, the Win falls even further behind the S4's 5-inch screen, 1.6 GHz 8-core processor, and 13-megapixel camera.
There has been no word on pricing or availability for the Win, however it is safe to assume it will be cheaper than both the S3 and S4. This new, slightly anemic Galaxy may prove to be a wise move on Samsung's part as customers have been generally impressed with the Galaxy's line of supersized displays, but many may have been turned off by the supersized price tag.
It could be argued that Samsung's multi-pronged approach to their product line has been key to the company's recent success. In fact, the Win's biggest competitor for the midrange market may turn out to be the still-unconfirmed S4 Mini, a 4.3-inch 1.6Ghz phone--a phone with a lot of that cutting edge Galaxy oomph in a slightly smaller package.
Apple may need to alter its strategy
While potential Galaxy customers will have several options to find the phone that fits their lifestyle, Apple customers face decisions like should their iPhone 5 come in Black & Slate or in White & Silver.
You know, the important decisions in life.
For the past decade, Apple's strategy has revolved around being the cool elite manufacturer that only produces bleeding-edge toys. And this was a fine strategy when they were the only game in town for high-end handsets. However, that is simply not the case anymore.
Samsung has made a mint producing both high-end and mid-range products. If their recent success is any indication, their embrace of tiered offerings has not tarnished their brand.
While Apple's introduction of the iPad Mini may show a newfound willingness to offer smaller, less beefy product lines, the competition from Samsung may force Cupertino to further pursue a strategy of reacting to a market that they no longer can dictate.
